


Something Old and Something New

by misura



Category: Boy Meets Boy - David Levithan
Genre: Multi, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-21
Updated: 2011-07-21
Packaged: 2017-10-21 15:23:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/226685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>When Ted and Trilby start dating, Joni starts talking to me again.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Something Old and Something New

**Author's Note:**

  * For [frogy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/frogy/gifts).



> This fic has no pairings tags not because I'm lazy, but because I feel that this ficlet works best when the reader, like Paul, figures things out by themselves. So. Um. Warning for a relationship that you might feel to be way out there?

When Ted and Trilby start dating, Joni starts talking to me again.

I speculate to Tony that maybe it's because to Joni, Ted dating Trilby means that he's moved on for good. He doesn't point out that really doesn't make much sense. I know this already.

Joni is still dating Chuck. I still don't like Chuck, and as far as I can tell, the feeling is entirely mutual. In fact, I think Chuck might dislike me quite a bit more than I dislike him. Chuck's dislike is personal; there's a person he doesn't like, and that person is me.

My own dislike isn't so very personal. Before he started dating Joni, I didn't like Chuck, but I didn't dislike him either. It's only now that he's dating Joni that I dislike him, and even now, I don't think I dislike Chuck-as-a-person half as much as I dislike Chuck-the-effect-on-Joni.

I'm still happy Joni's gone back to being my friend.

I'd have been happier if she'd stopped being the Joni who's Chuck's girlfriend and gone back to being the Joni who's my very best friend in the whole world.

Possibly, I'm being unfair. I try not to be. I've got Noah now. I don't think Noah is anything at all like Chuck, but I suppose to Joni, Chuck might be what Noah is to me.

I really hope he's not, though.

 

When Amber tells me Emily told her Gloria told her someone told her they've seen Infinite Darlene kissing Ted, at first, I don't believe it. I know Infinite Darlene and Trilby are still in hate with each other, but kissing Trilby's boyfriend doesn't at all sound like something Infinite Darlene would do.

I tell Amber this. She considers for a few seconds, then tells me that I am right. We agree that Infinite Darlene would never kiss a boy only because he happens to be dating Trilby Pope. That's not the kind of person Infinite Darlene is.

The rumor refuses to go away. Whenever someone tells me the story, I tell them the same thing I told Amber: that the story can't be true. The problem is that it's a story people find interesting. There's nothing particularly interesting about a story where Infinite Darlene _hasn't_ kissed Ted.

In the end, I decide to ask Infinite Darlene about it. Of course, I make it very clear I don't believe the story. I mention having heard the story from Amber first. I mention Amber not believing the story either. I remind her of the time everyone was talking about me and Kyle getting back together just because of one kiss, which didn't at all mean what people thought it meant.

Looking back on it later, I think perhaps I am rambling a little.

Infinite Darlene doesn't say the story isn't true. She doesn't say the story _is_ true, either.

She just informs me _'a lady never kisses and tells'_. I know Infinite Darlene is a lady. I also know that while she's not very good at keeping secrets, there are some things she won't talk about. When Chuck started bad-mouthing her for turning him down, she didn't even bad-mouth him back all that much.

Not a lot of people paid much attention to Chuck when he was bad-mouthing her. Everyone knew what had really happened.

There are a lot of people who pay attention to this rumor about Infinite Darlene and Ted and Trilby.

In this case, nobody knows what really happened.

 

When someone (I don't even remember who it was anymore) tells me they've seen Infinite Darlene and Trilby at Spiff's Videorama, I feel like maybe I've crossed over into some bizarre alternate universe. Then I feel bad for thinking Infinite Darlene would be less of a good friend than I am.

Even if Joni and I have been friends for much longer than Infinite Darlene and Trilby, I know that they used to be very close friends. I know that they used to do almost everything together.

Maybe they've finally decided to make up. Maybe, because of that stupid rumor, Trilby has said to Infinite Darlene: _'I know we argue all the time and I hate your dress, but I know you would never kiss someone just because he was my boyfriend'_. And maybe Infinite Darlene has said to Trilby: _'I hate all of your accessories except for the ones that are rightfully mine, but I would never stoop so low as to kiss your boyfriend'_. And maybe, after, they talked some more and decided there was really no point in their continuing to be ex-best friends.

I really like this story I've constructed. I share it with Joni, who doesn't look convinced, even if she says so in a way that reminds me that even though we're back to being friends, we're not yet back to being _best_ friends. I share it with Noah, who agrees to me it might have happened the way I've imagined it. I share it with Tony, who suggests that maybe I should ask Ted. This sounds to me as a very good idea.

 

For the record, I don't expect Ted to know if Trilby and Infinite Darlene are really back to being friends. This, I expect I will find out quickly enough. Infinite Darlene is never shy or coy about her friendships.

I do expect Ted to know where the rumor that Infinite Darlene kissed him has come from. I'm not sure yet how I can ask him about this in a polite way, but I hope inspiration will strike eventually.

Of course, it still hasn't struck when Infinite Darlene corners me at my locker, claiming there's something important she needs to tell me. Since she's Infinite Darlene, she immediately follows this with what I assume to be that something.

"I'm dating Ted."

I try to think of any other Teds in our school. I can't remember Infinite Darlene ever having mentioned them. I can barely imagine her being impulsive enough to start dating someone she barely knows.

"I wanted to tell you before the rumors start again," she adds, and that's when I know the Ted I'm thinking of is the one Infinite Darlene is dating, as well as the one Trilby Pope used to date.

Finding out the story I most wanted to believe isn't true doesn't make me feel nearly as bad as finding out the story I least wanted to believe is. I don't know what to say.

Happily, Infinite Darlene doesn't seem to mind my silence. "You don't think Joni will mind, do you?"

That, at least I can reply to. "No," I say. Joni's in love with Chuck. I have accepted this. She doesn't care about Ted or who he's hanging out with anymore.

Infinite Darlene nods and smiles, as if I'm only confirming her own opinion. Probably I am.

"Of course, he's still dating that wench." Infinite Darlene sighs tragically. "I suppose I shall have to put up with her for the time being. Such a bother."

The words sound like nothing has changed between Infinite Darlene and Trilby. The tone and the expression on her face make me think that maybe something _has_ changed. Maybe the story I invented still isn't true, but I'm beginning to think that perhaps bits of it are.

It makes me feel a lot better.

"We went shopping the other day, and you just wouldn't _believe_ what she wanted me to buy," Infinite Darlene says. I quickly check her outfit, but nothing jumps out at me as being new.

I do, however, remember Trilby wearing a new dress to school today.

I try to think of a way to congratulate Infinite Darlene on her renewed friendship with Trilby, but I can't think of any way that will still let her pretend it hasn't happened. It's a little silly.

In the end, I have to settle for something much too general for my liking. "I'm happy for you."

She hugs me. It feels about like what you'd expect getting hugged by a star quarterback feels like, but it also feels good. Infinite Darlene is happy I'm happy for her. I'm happy she's happy I'm happy for her. And so on. It's like a never-ending spiral of happiness. When we break apart, we're both smiling.

I carry that smile all the way to Noah's locker. There, I trade it in for a smile that's only his.


End file.
